How Multiple Interaction Types Affect Disease Spread and Dilution in Ecological Networks

Ecological communities are composed of different functional guilds that engaging in multiple types biotic interactions. We explore how ecological networks fare when confronting infectious diseases according to density-dependent (DD) and frequency-dependent (FD) transmission modes. Our model shows network compositions can dictate both disease spreading the relationship between community diversity (including species richness Shannon’s diversity) as depicted dilution effect. The becomes more prevalent within harboring mutualistic interactions, generating a positive prevalence (i.e., an amplification effect). By contrast, with fixed proportion higher from balance competition predation impede Within-species increases linearly species’ degree centrality. These patterns diversity-disease hold for analyses highlight complex effects interaction on dynamics further advance debate effect host prevalence.